U.S. dollar ticks up

NEW YORK, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar strengthened in late trading on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, added 0.23 percent to 98.368 at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.1745 dollars from 1.1758 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was down to 1.3378 dollars from 1.3426 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 155.63 Japanese yen, higher than 154.68 Japanese yen in the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.7953 Swiss francs from 0.7946 Swiss francs, and it climbed to 1.3789 Canadian dollars from 1.3746 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar rose to 9.2984 Swedish kronor from 9.2890 Swedish kronor.